This is an IHeart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A Production of IHeart Radio and Grim and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

Off the coast of England, and to be exact, off the coast of Frenton-on-Sea in Essex, a ferry dropped anchor.

Its pilot had taken special care to move it into international waters.

Its crew's intent was not strictly legal, and they didn't want to be hassled by the British authorities. It was Easter Sunday, March 28th of 1964. A signal went out

from the decks, cutting into the British radio static, a clarion call and a protest. It was rock

and roll. And in this way, Radio Caroline announced

itself to a pop and rock star England. It became a beacon for pop music and forced the establishment

to finally accept the changing tastes of a new generation. And along the way, it utterly changed

the landscape of British broadcasting.

You see, before 1964, broadcasting was completely controlled by the BBC.

What went on the airwaves was regulated by the government,

who only begrudgingly played popular music and limited its time on the airwaves.

But this wasn't enough for the British youth who desperately

hungered for music from the country's growing pop and rock scene. They wanted the Beatles,

they wanted the Rolling Stones, they wanted rock and roll, but the BBC wasn't listening.

So when an Irish businessman named Ronan O'Reilly saw what was happening and realized that

there was a great opportunity

...